The flowers left thick at nightfall in the woodThis Eastertide call into mind the men,Now far from home, who, with their sweethearts, shouldHave gathered them and will do never again. Edward Thomas In Memorium (Easter 1915)

The last of the Great War combatants has now passed on; diplomatictensions mark 30 years since the end of the Falklands War; and theconflict in Afghanistan still rages after more than a decade. Wherecan we glimpse the new life of Easter? Edward Thomas sees Easter innature's abundance of “flowers left thick at nightfall” but also seesthe Easter life extinguished as so many First World War soldiers willnever again gather flowers with their sweethearts. The men are absentbecause of both the physical and psychological violence of conflict.

Thomas, a First War poet, battled depression and struggled, “plaguedwith work, burning my candle at 3 ends”. His depression made himcruel to his family and left him contemplating suicide. Rather like aChristian hermit he found solace in the countryside. The rhythm ofwalking around Hampshire, observing and recording with an everpresent notebook, inspired him. That inspiration was unlocked by adeep friendship with the American poet Robert Frost which resultingin an explosion of poetic writing for two years before he was posted toFrance.

Thomas does not write about faith but was inspired by the rhythm ofChristian life, “The church and yew / And farmhouse slept in a Sundaysilentness.” I also remember his Prayer Book in an Imperial War Museumexhibition and wondered how the seasons of the church's year inspiredthe insights of his pastoral poetry. For me he does epitomise somethingof the hope of faith. Out of the darkness of war and mental illness herecords profound insights. “Beauty is there”, he proclaims despite oreven because of his struggles. In another poem he is frustrated by hisinability to describe the, “The glory of the beauty of the morning”, justas so many theologians have struggled to describe the glory of God.

Thomas was killed by a close passing shell just after Easter 1917. Hefell with no mark on his body and his clay pipe was unbroken. His localunderstated poetry would have resonated with the empty tomb ofMark's first gospel and the inability to describe the resurrection on thatfirst Easter morn.